Peace and Justice office to shut down

Friday

Dec 28, 2007 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - When the Peace and Justice Network of San Joaquin County opened a small office off the Miracle Mile in 2005, it hoped to create a gathering place for like-minded thinkers, with enough visitors to increase the group's funding base and to help pay the office's rent.

David Siders

STOCKTON - When the Peace and Justice Network of San Joaquin County opened a small office off the Miracle Mile in 2005, it hoped to create a gathering place for like-minded thinkers, with enough visitors to increase the group's funding base and to help pay the office's rent.

The liberal nonprofit group held meetings there, played foreign films and hosted speakers and art shows.

But large crowds did not form and substantial donations did not materialize, organizers said. Money ran out, and the group announced recently that the center likely will close early next year, perhaps as soon as Tuesday.

"What a loss!" the group's Bruce Giudici said in a call for donations in the latest issue of Connections, an alternative newspaper published by the group. "Always busy - sometimes more than others - the center has been a source of pride to us all."

Christie Kelley, chairwoman of the network's board of directors, guessed the network wasn't aggressive enough in its effort to raise money. What money it did raise went for rent and utilities, and she said the board decided to abandon the center in order to spend that money instead on education, the network's mission.

"We realized we were getting into more of a money focus, as opposed to an education focus," she said.

Once the center closes, the group likely will meet as it once did, in homes or churches, said Maria Flumiani, the center's coordinator. The network will still publish Connections, she said.

Contact reporter David Siders at (209) 943-8580 or dsiders@recordnet.com.

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